A Setback for McCain-Feingold?

A Setback for McCain-Feingold?
Tuesday, Jun. 26, 2007 By REYNOLDS HOLDING

U.S. Sen. John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, speaks to reporters while Sen. Russell Feingold, a Democrat from Wisconsin listens.
Jacob Silberberg / AP

On the same day that the Supreme Court imposed a new limit on students' free speech in the Bong Hits 4 Jesus decision, the Justices ruled the opposite way in another first amendment case, protecting the rights of corporations and unions to shell out money for political ads shortly before an election.Related Ruling "Bong Hits" Out of Bounds

Was it a pro-drug banner or just a silly joke? Either way, the Supreme Court says it isn't protected by the First Amendment, setting a new (but fair) limit on student free speech

That may sound sweeping, but it's hard to know exactly what to make of the 5 to 4 decision, with the majority opinion also written, as in the Bong Hits case, by Chief Justice John Roberts. It seems to put a significant chink in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, and advocates for limiting campaign spending say it will draw a flood of corporate cash to TV spots pushing one candidate or another. But the decision is also very narrow, meaning it may well preserve the overall impact of McCain-Feingold and doesn't necessarily justify predictions of the end to spending restraint. As with the Bong Hits case, it also starts to show the ideological limits of the Roberts Court, where the President's two appointees, Roberts and Samuel Alito, are less open to sweeping legal change than their counterparts on the right, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

Full Story: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1637305,00.html